Numerous retail businesses operate under conditions leading to a high probability of robbery, embezzlement, or mishandling of funds. Most revenue in many small retail sales is in the form of cash receipts. Many small retail operations, such as 24-hour convenience stores, fast food establishments, gas stations, diners, and liquor stores are targets of armed robberies on a frequent basis. Many criminals view these types of retail stores as repositories of several hundreds to thousands of dollars in small denomination bills (e.g. $20 and less) that are not tracked by serial number by the businesses and remain impossible to trace. During normal hours of operation, these businesses can receive hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars in cash receipts.
In addition to armed robberies, burglaries, and the like, these small businesses face other difficulties in fully controlling cash receipts. Typically, armored-car pickups will collect currency and transport the currency to a central location for counting and deposit into a bank account. Employees of these armored-car operations have been known to pilfer these cash receipts. Mismatches between cash receipt records and actual cash deposited are more often than not dismissed as honest accounting errors or actual embezzlement and theft by store employees.
For many retail operations, cash thefts by employees are an accepted reality. In many instances, these store positions for cashiers are often transient; filled by individuals that are working part-time or gaining experience for better paying jobs at some future date. Less frequently, an employee goes to work at a convenience store for a limited time to steal from the employer and depart before their dishonesty becomes apparent. Less often, but still with distressing frequency, store managers embezzle funds or manipulate accounting procedures to cover discrepancies.
As a deterrent to loses from dishonest employees, and more importantly to reduce the perception of easy cash for armed robbers, many retail operations have implemented policies that reduce the amount of accessible, ready cash on a business premises. At the end of their shifts, cashiers close out their registers and transfer their receipts (both currency and check) to a secured storage location on the store premises. Usually these deposits are in sealed envelopes and identify the employee and/or identify the cash register. Many retail operations additionally require cashiers to periodically remove currency from their registers and deposit it into the secure location as a further means of reducing cash accumulation that can be stolen by robbers. The secure location is very often a restricted access safe. Restricted access safes that employees do not have access to that employees routinely deposit cash receipts into are now found in most retail operations.
Drop safes have been developed to address many of the security issues confronted by small businesses. In concept, a drop safe provides a receptacle that a cashier can “drop” receipts into a secure compartment, usually in an envelope with the identity of the employee and the amount of the currency and checks contained in the envelope. Typically, employees in the store do not have access to the drop safe, either because of no key, no knowledge of the combination or access code, or a time lock feature that permits entry only at designated times.
These drop safe designs have become increasingly sophisticated over the years, evolving from relatively simple metal boxes with a single drop slot and/or compartment for deposits into computerized, multi-compartment safes with currency vending options and currency denomination-sensitive receptacles to receive currency. While computerized drop safes have improved control over store receipts, current computerized drop safe designs and software applications have not provided a completely satisfactory solution. By and large, the cash remains vulnerable to opportunist employees who can often pilfer cash when receipts are removed from the safe, who can manipulate the receipt records to embezzle cash, or third party employees (banks, armored-car companies, etc) that have access to the cash and an ability to manipulate the receipt records and/or accounting.
A drop safe incorporating computers operating security and accounting/bookkeeping applications can provide access control and currency and receipt tallying and tracking functions. The development of these currency and information tracking abilities provides a capability for businesses to implement an accounting and security protocol that includes different accounting options for currency and receipt tracking, accounting, data management, and historical reports. However, individual customers usually desire individualized report formats that can vary greatly. For currently implemented and available accounting applications, these report formats must be individually tailored and programmed into the drop safe program's software code by the safe manufacturer or a software developer. The applications must be rewritten to accommodate the customized report format and are not readily modified should new reports be desired and requested.
There is a need for an improved computerized drop safe incorporating a point-of-sale accounting system and software application that permits user-modified reports, accounting, and security access protocols that deter both robbery and employee theft and embezzlement by providing automated currency tracking and accounting that is resistant to manipulation and alteration. Such a drop safe should also offer superior efficiencies by permitting real time monitoring by management of receipt deposits, currency vends, receipt records, security monitoring (e.g. individuals accessing safe and individuals making deposits), generation of reports upon demand, or automated generation of reports either locally at the store or at another location by business managers.